Audiophilepure

https://www.whathifi.com/reviews/sony-nw-a306

The Sony is adept enough to turn its hand to various genres and even discern the differences in file qualities, but it doesn’t make a meal out of it at all. In fact, there’s a familial throughline from the high-end NW-WM1ZM2 to the A306 in terms of just how mature and capable it’s able to sound. We can spot the same sound signature, even if the detail resolution is at vastly different levels. Where the A306 differs (and has the upper hand) is with volume: it had no problem driving the Grados, and we found it played more than loud enough for our needs. 

As with the NW-WM1ZM2, though, we find ourselves yearning for an ounce more dynamic punch and drive. We think the Sony A306 could sound a whole lot more fun and immersive if it let its metaphorical hair down and stayed up past its metaphorical bedtime. It’s a polite, undemanding listen that could become an absolute barnstormer with just a bit more bite, fluidity and insight.

The Honey H1 DAC/Amp was quite a buggy device when it first came out. The issues were solved later on, but the problem with the volume knob continued since it can’t be fixed without a hardware modification. The SG1 offers a much smoother experience though. You open the device, pair it with your source device and you’re connected. The volume knob is much better and the build quality has no flaws. Maybe Dethonray could’ve included a protective case since the design is sharp and angular so you might damage the corners. You can get a case from the web and the Dethonray AliExpress store also has one.

https://www.whathifi.com/reviews/fiio-m11s

It’s suitably heavy for such dimensions, presenting a reassuring sense of build quality, though the fact that the chassis corners are pointed and much of the player’s front is a 5-inch touchscreen display (albeit with a factory-fitted tempered glass protector) wouldn’t leave us in any doubt as to whether or not to use the supplied clear case. It’s not pretty exactly, but neither is scratched aluminium.

The FiiO saves itself from being a boring rectangular chassis by being almost a boring rectangular chassis, save for its left-hand side angled protrusion, on the outer edge of which you’ll find power and multi-purpose buttons as well as a nicely sized, slightly textured volume pad. Our eyes lit up at the sight of the latter, presuming it would be a slider control to allow for one-finger volume adjustment when the player is sat on a surface. Disappointingly it isn’t, but like the rest of the controls (pause/play and skip tracks on the player’s right-hand edge) it is reliably responsive and ergonomic while in the hand.

The DAPs I reviewed recently from Shanling have great designs. However, this might come to you a bit odd and out of place, mainly because of the three buttons on top of the screen. They’re there for play/pause, skip/previous track. This choice from Shanling is questionable. Maybe they thought about using the player without touching the screen for playback control.

Nevertheless, these buttons are a part of the design. But another problem here is that it sacrifices some space on the screen. And when it’s held in its original position, your thumb covers a lot of screen space as well. However, Shanling has a solution in which you can invert the screen upside down from the software, to place the buttons on the bottom. That works better overall.

To ensure the best performances, FiiO developed a fourth-generation FPGA chip with “more advanced algorithms, more accurate clocks, and even further reduced jitter”. Unlike Chord which uses an FPGA chip as a DAC, here it’s used as a middle-man between the SPDIF circuitry and the dual ESS DAC – working in I2S/DSD